At least one dose of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) has high individual vaccine effectiveness (VE) in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in a paediatric population with suboptimal vaccination coverage, a new study has shown.

Full airway endoscopy, performed in 72 patients, showed that laryngomalacia was observed in 29 patients, of whom 14 had type one while 15 had type 2. Type 1 laryngeal cleft was reported in 24 patients.

Gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in 27 participants and revealed that there was one case of gastritis and four of oesophagitis according to microscopic examination.

Of the participants, 119 were recommended for further treatments which included surgery and modifications in feeding. Furthermore, 66 percent (n=85) of the patients modified the food and liquid consistency while 12 percent (n=15) were put on enteral feeding.

Surgery was performed on 36 percent (n=46) of patients. Of these, 19 patients received injection augmentations using hyaluronic acid-based products, 14 underwent endoscopic repair of the laryngeal cleft and 18 had supraglottoplasty.

Participants were recruited from the Aspiration Clinic at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Canada. Those that were referred by speech and language pathologists or paediatric otolaryngologists were eligible. Only those without neurological abnormalities that may contribute to DP were included.

At least one dose of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) has high individual vaccine effectiveness (VE) in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in a paediatric population with suboptimal vaccination coverage, a new study has shown.